nun

Forms

nun^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German nū, nu, inherited from Old High German nu, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *nū, inherited from Proto-Germanic *nu (“now”).^[2][3][1] The same word is Gothic 𐌽𐌿 (nu), Old Norse nú, Old English nū, Old Frisian nū and Old Saxon nū, and today Dutch nu, English now and Swedish nu.^[2][4] It continues Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”), an adverb also found in Hittite nu (“now, and”), Sanskrit नु (nú), Ancient Greek νυ (nu) and Lithuanian nù, and with extensions in νῦν (nûn), Latin nunc and Old Church Slavonic нынѣ (nyně).^[2][5][3] Pfeifer and the Duden dictionary take it to be probably an ablaut form of the root of neu.^[3][6]

The final -n was added in the 13th century.^[2][3] Kluge explains it by the model of other adverbs of time such as dann and wann,^[2] Pfeifer by the enclitic negative particle -ne of negated sentences, as in Hartmann von Aue, whose role was forgotten when double negation went out of use.^[3] Paul gives both explanations.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German nū is very frequent in the texts (Köbler counts over a thousand instances); it is recorded in glosses from 765 and then in the Hildebrandslied, Isidor, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker, meaning “now”, also “so, therefore, since”.^[8] It was already used as a conjunction in some Old High German texts.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The form with -n, first nuon in the 13th century and nun from the 14th, became the written standard in the 17th century; the older nu remained in dialect and everyday speech.^[3][6] Paul notes that nu was still the main form until the 16th century.^[7] Besides the temporal sense, the word took on a causal, connecting role (“now then, so”), as Greek νῦν also did, and it became a particle that stresses a question or expresses hesitation.^[9][3] In its strict sense “at this moment” it has largely been replaced by jetzt.^[7]

As a conjunction “now that” it was used until the 19th century and sporadically into the 20th, but is no longer usual.^[3] The noun Nu “moment”, formed in the 13th century, keeps the form without -n and survives mainly in im Nu “in no time” (17th century).^[3][6]

Timeline

• 765 – Old High German nū appears in glosses.^[8]
• 13th century – The form nuon with final -n appears, and the noun nū “moment” is formed.^[3]
• 14th century – The spelling nun is recorded.^[3]
• 16th century – nunmehr “now, from now on” is used.^[3]
• 17th century – nun becomes the standard written form, and im Nu “in a moment” appears.^[3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. now, at the present moment: Nun beginnt der zweite Teil.^[10][1]
2. Now, under these circumstances, after what has happened: Was machen wir nun?^[10][1]
3. By now, meanwhile: something is finished or still the case at this point.^[10]
4. Nowadays, in contrast to the past.^[10]

Particle

1. (unstressed) Used for minor emphasis, contrasting expectation and reality, or suggesting the answer to a question.^[10][1]
2. (unstressed) Expressing that something cannot be changed: So ist es nun.^[10]

Interjection

1. well, so, introducing a remark or a question.^[1][11]

Conjunction

1. (literary, dated) Now that.^[1][3]

Word family

• Nu
• nunmehr

Related words

• neu
• noch
• jetzt
• English now

Usage notes

Nun und nimmer or nun und nimmermehr “never” is a dated fixed phrase, and von nun an means “from now on”.^[10][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 661
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
5. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 589
7. ^ a b c d Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
9. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 13, 982
10. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
11. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org